Musings

Haven't done one of these for a while.

1. God of War Ragnarok and What's Next

I really enjoyed Ragnarok. Far more so than I did God of War 2018, and considerably more than I thought I would. Atreus might be the biggest reason, as he basically grew up and became a far more agreeable lad. I was more interested in the relationship between he and his father, Kratos, this time around, and I felt more invested in the wan Spartan and his largely successful attempts to repress his anger, while still being very good at disembowelment. I welcomed the opportunity to go to war with different allies at different junctures; Mimir is still the best head, and I looked forward to spending time with the larger-than-life rulers of Asgard. Odin in particular was not as I expected, and all the better for it. A very distinctive and memorable take on the all-father, and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that.

It wasn't perfect, sure. Its insistence on constantly showing you just-out-of-reach treasure chests is an inexcusable perversion, and there's a striking lack of clarity in the communication of goals and motivations to the player. There were several times when I had no clue what Kratos and his son were trying to achieve, though I was always happy to come along for the ride. All that being said, I haven't enjoyed a God of War this much since its PS2-PSP heyday.

Next, I'm going to put a few hours into Gran Turismo 7, before moving to Switch for Live A Live and Splatoon 3. Thus, I'm doing exactly what I said I'd do: working my through my backlog and abstaining from new purchases until June. I'm being a very good boy, aren't I? 

2. Fake Gamer

I have come to accept that I am very bad at multiplayer games. I can clock a Soulsborne. I can get through an FPS on the hardest setting. I can brute force my way through some unreasonably hard 16-bit classic, and I can figure out how to beat a CPU racer three times around the Desert. I am the king of being OK at narrative-driven, single player action games. But ask me to play against other humans, especially at an unfamiliar game, and I will probably embarrass myself.

I went to a lovely house gathering the other weekend, where I was joined by fellow gamers and plenty of consoles. We played Saturn Bomberman, GoldenEye, Super Monkey Ball and Kuru Kuru Kururin, among others, and I kept losing. Dead last, almost every time. I felt like the elderly relative at the family gathering, being passed the controller for the first time and getting merked by the grandkids.

To make matters worse, the next day my daughter beat me at Mario Kart 8. Completely wiped the floor with me. I'm happy she's getting good, but more than anything I'm concerned about my waning skills. Might be time to cut off my thumbs and get another hobby. Reading, or something else equally appalling.

3. Mercari Wins

I've had a really good run on Mercari of late. Lots of stuff popping up that I'd been after, and at reasonable prices. I already told you about my new Dreamcast, but I also picked up nicely-priced copies of NBA 2K, The King of Fighters '99 and Skies of Arcadia, as well as a companion magazine for the launch of Final Fantasy VIII, which is in near-perfect condition. To top it all off, I finally bought a Saturn Bomberman multi-tap, boxed and in very good condition, for under ¥2000.

I probably didn't need a Saturn multi-tap - I don't have friends - but it looks adorable with the iconic Bomberman design. Another one to tick off my Saturn wishlist. And with that purchase, I've decided not to open the Mercari app for the rest of the month. No more buying cheap and old shit that I don't need. Until April; online. Anyone want to go to Akiba for Suragaya and a pint?

4. Call of Duty, Still?

Plenty of juicy details emerged from the European Commission hearings for Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. There has been lots of petty squabbling between Microsoft and Sony, which has reflected badly on both parties. All that noise aside, the aspect that has fascinated me the most is how vital Call of Duty remains to the health of console gaming. Sony has made it very clear that the potential loss of Call of Duty on its platform, or even a reduction of its presence, would be catastrophic for its PlayStation brand. Honestly, Sony probably isn't bullshitting in this regard.

Rewind a decade, and it felt like Call of Duty had already outstayed its welcome. We were starting to tire a little of its well-worn tricks during that Ghosts-Advanced Warfare-Black Ops III stretch. I certainly didn't figure it'd be in such rude health two generations removed from its 360-PS3 heyday. To be honest, I'm not really sure what happened, as I haven't been a series regular for many years, though I do still occasionally dip in for the single player campaigns. While it might be fun to paint Activision Blizzard as the bad guy, it certainly knows how to keep the cash flowing, and has maintained Call of Duty's relevance far longer than I would've ever expected. Well done, I guess.

5. Blogging & Looking for Something New

As you may have noticed, I've upped my blogging rate the last two months. At my current pace, at least a post every week, I'd be on course for my most productive year since 2012. 

I'm enjoying writing. Treating my blog like a diary, and essentially writing for myself, works for me. However, I do wish there were a better way to share what I write with a wider audience. While I still tweet out my blog posts, they essentially reach no one. Twitter is a dead-end these days, and so little of that app seems to work properly anymore.

I'm also on the lookout for a new project, and I'm waiting for inspiration. I've toyed with starting an email newsletter, but ultimately I rejected the idea. Call me old-fashioned, but I like having all my words archived in one place and looking pretty, which disqualifies email newsletters. I semi-abandoned my short-lived podcast last year. I'd love to return to it, but probably with a different format, and I just don't know what that is yet. So for now, I'll keep blogging like its 2009. I'm sure that this medium is due a revival soon, as people tire of YouTube channels and come back to the written word. I'll hang on until then. 

Let me know when that's happening, yeah?